Lawyer who turned down $8M settlement wins $130M in retrial

A New York lawyer says he feels vindicated after winning $130 million for a medical malpractice client in a third trial of the case.

Lawyer Thomas Moore had turned down an $8 million settlement before the first trial in 2009 and then lost the case, the New York Post reports. An appeals court ordered a retrial, which ended last year in a hung jury. Moore won $130 million this week in a Suffolk County trial.

The suit had claimed St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson erred during the birth of Shannon Reilly, who is now 10 years old and has cerebral palsy.

“This case was a living nightmare for four years, but the family never gave up and I never gave up,” Moore told the New York Post. “I believe justice has been done.”

The story compares the case to the Paul Newman movie The Verdict. Moore acknowledged some similarities, but was quick to point out he is not an alcoholic like the movie character. “But people have told me in my better moments that I look like Paul Newman,” he said.

After the first trial, hospital lawyer Peter Kopff had mocked Moore for turning down the settlement offer in an interview with the Post. He believes the judge will reduce the award, and also said he has “some issues with how Moore conducted the trial.”